Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Our breakfasts are pretty routine and simple, most days are yogurt, fruit and granola, or occasionally oatmeal.  Once in while we have waffles, although lately they seem to be a good dinner option.  And on Sunday's we usually have muffins, alternating though a few standards like banana, pumpkin, or cranberry.  A couple of weeks ago, I decided we needed something different.  Something a bit more decadent.  Since my lemon tree is back to bearing some great (and huge) fruit after a lean year, I thought Lemon Poppy Seed.  

Freakishly Large Lemons

And not the nasty lemon poppy seed muffins that are sticky, overly sweet and pre-wrapped at free hotel breakfasts (if we can remember back to those days), but bright and balanced.  And enough poppy seeds to make passing a drug test a concern.  So I googled recipes .. many were clearly lacking enough lemon and/or poppy seeds, or were more like a cake, needing to cream butter and sugar.   Then I stumbled on one from Sally's Baking Addiction that seemed close.. but it was Orange Lemon (and will someday try it when I have oranges around too).  So I made a few modifications in part to make if more like how I make all my muffins (I do this before coffee, so it needs to be something I can practically do in my sleep).  And it came out good.. very good. 

Wet Ingredients

Yes, the lemons are big

Dry Ingredients

Add dry to the wet

And Muffins!

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

 

2 cups all-purpose flour (can use about 30% whole wheat if you like)

1/3 cup oat bran

3 Tablespoons poppy seeds

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

2/3 cup granulated sugar

½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons lemon zest

3/4 cup buttermilk (or milk/yogurt combo)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Almond slivers, for sprinkling

Coarse sugar, for sprinkling 

Preheat oven to 400°F or 380°F convection bake. Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray. Melt the butter in a small bowl (about 1 minute in the microwave) so it has time to cool. 

 

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together until thoroughly mixed. Set aside.

 

In a large bowl, whisk the egg and granulated sugar, then whisk in melted butter, then lemon juice, lemon zest, milk, and vanilla. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix together until no pockets of flour remain. 

 

Spoon the batter into the muffin pan, filling each about 3/4 of the way full. Sprinkle with coarse sugar and a few almond slivers. Bake for about 22 minutes, muffins should be browned and springy to the touch when done.   

Trying new things ... My store is open!

My ceramics store is finally opened, and I have even made a few sales... but there are still many things available.  I am calling it Firecooked Ceramics.  I also have a new Firecooked Ceramics Facebook page, along with my Firecooked Instagram feed. It's been a learning experience, I am using a web platform called Shopify which sets up to take credit cards, manage inventory, and provides a discount on shipping.  And for all my loyal followers (and because I am still trying to figure out what I should charge, here is a discount code for 20% off that is good for the rest of March:  GRANDOPENING )

Now a year in on the pandemic, with hope on the horizon that soon we can all gather and travel and go out to eat, I am making a list of things that have changed for the better ... I'm thinking on-line grocery shopping, the ability to do meetings on Zoom when you need to, and what is better cooked at home. 

One of the things I have added to my cooking repretare is corn tortillas. I love tacos (who doesn't?) but didn't cook them at at home that often.  It's hard to get good corn tortillas at the grocery store, then they would typically sit in the fridge a few days before I used them, at which point they were less good.  Plus I would always have leftover tortillas that I didn't use that would get tossed.  But when you make your own, you can make just as many as you need, and nothing beats a freshly cooked tortilla. Early in the pandemic, when we couldn't get basics like bread and pasta and beans, I discovered not one but two bags of masa harina (corn flour) in my pantry. You see, I have a recipe for empanadas that called for a 1/4 cup of masa .. that I have made twice.  And the second time that I made them, I couldn't find the bag of masa I thought I had (turns out it was buried in the freezer) so that's how I ended up with two bags. And while in March and April last year basic food items were hard to get, I could buy a tortilla press on Amazon and have it in 2 days.  I just followed the recipe on the bag, and got amazing tortilla's.  

Some special equipment is needed... The above mentioned tortilla press, plus some type of a griddle. I use my cooking steel (a large heavy sheet of steel that I usually cook pizza on in the oven), but you could also use any kind of griddle, or a traditional comal, which is a low sided cast iron pan. 

To make the dough, you just mix the masa with a bit a salt and warm water.  You want the dough to be springy, and neither too sticky or too dry. You let the dough sit for an hour or so, then divide and make small balls (how small depends on how big you want your tacos.. I like them on the smaller size, and make 8 tortillas from 1 cup of masa. To get even sized balls, I cut the big ball in half, then each half into quarters. 

For the filling, you can put in anything you like, including fish or chicken but lately I have been doing veggie tacos. I have nice nearby to-go options for meat loaded tacos, so rarely make those. I use either cauliflower or zucchini as the main veg, plus black beans, onion, garlic, and peppers (if I don't have fresh chili's I just use chili flakes or chili powder).  I am going to give you a recipe, but don't worry about following it too closely. 

I get everything ready (including the add-ons), then cook the tortillas, then the filling.  Both are pretty quick. 

The last part of great tacos at home is the add-ons...  I like something crunchy like radishes or shredded cabbage, something creamy like greek yogurt or sour cream, maybe something cheesy .. cotija is great but I usually don't have that, feta or cheddar are my typical go-to's, bonus points for avocado and cilantro.  Plus hot sauce and lime.  

Corn Tortillas

 

Scale to make as many as you like, this makes 8 small (5 inch diameter) tortillas, which feeds 2 of us. Water hot from the tap is warm enough, although rather than wait for the water to heat up I usually just warm the water in the microwave. 

 

1 cup of masa harina

½ teaspoon salt

¾ to 1 cup of hot water

 

In a medium bowl, mix the masa and salt, then slowly add the water as you mix (I usually just use a fork to do this, would opt for a wooden spoon if I was making a bigger batch).  As the dough starts to come together, knead with your hand several times.  If it is too dry and cracks, add a bit more water.  If it is sticky, add a bit more masa.  It should feel a bit springy when you are done.   Roll into a ball (leave in the same bowl), cover and let sit for an hour or so.  Whe ready to make the tortillas, heat up the griddle.  You are aiming for about 450F, a medium high heat that water droplets will “dance” on.  Divide the dough into 8 pieces (can do more or less depending on how big you like your tortillas).  I cut the ball in half, then in quarters to get even sized pieces, then roll each piece into a ball (they are about golf ball sized).   Place a cut open plastic baggie in the tortilla press (I think the weight that works best is the ziplock storage bag thickness).  Put a ball of dough between the sheets of plastic, then press.  Cook tortilla on the hot griddle for 30 seconds to a minute on each side.  Transfer to a plate lined with a towel, keep wrapped in the towel as you finish cooking all the tortillas.  Serve warm. 

Veggie Taco’s

 

This makes about 2+ servings.. Please use this as a guideline and feel free to improvise.  Leftovers are good in a quesadilla, on a baked potato, or in a salad. 

 

Olive or vegetable oil

Cauliflower or zucchini, about 3 cups. Cut in small pieces (about ¼ inch)

Onion, about 1 small, diced

Garlic, a couple of cloves, minced

Bell pepper, about ½, diced (optional)

Hot Peppers, diced (optional, to taste..)

Black beans, about 1 can, drained and rinsed

Cumin, about 1 teaspoon

Chili powder or chili flakes, to taste, ¼ to 1 teaspoon

Salt, pepper

 

Garnish (pick at least 2-3):

Greek yogurt or sour cream

Shredded lettuce or cabbage, maybe mixed with cilantro

Avocado. Radish slices. Cheese. 

Salsa. Hot sauce. Lime wedges

 

Warm corn tortillas (3-4 per person)

 

Heat thin layer of oil in large sauté pan over medium hot flame.  Add cauliflower or zucchini, let sear on one side.  Add the rest of the veggies, let cook a bit, then add bean and spices. Stir well and let beans heat through.  Make tacos with warm tortillas and desired toppings.

Firecooked Ceramics and Biscuits for Two..

My latest endeavor has been setting up a website to sell my ceramics!  For the first 30 years or so of doing ceramics, I always said that my pieces fell into two camps: ones that I wouldn't sell, and ones that I couldn't sell.  Over the last few years though, I have been fortunate to have the time to more more on my craft and have had some excellent teachers that have helped elevate my work.  So while I have been making things for a while that I would and could sell, I'm finally taking the leap to actually sell them.  I have decided to go on-line (not that there are many other options in today's environment), and directly sell from a website I am setting up on Shopify.  There have been a bazillion tiny choices to make, a lot of learning to set up a store, lots of photographs; but I am getting close to a launch, hopefully next week.  I will use this blog to announce when my store opens, as well as Instagram (@firecooked) and Facebook (Firecooked Ceramics).  My website is firecooked.com, but it's not live yet. 

Meanwhile, I'm still doing a lot of cooking.  Looking forward to summer when I'm hoping we are able to gather in bigger groups, but for now still just mostly cooking for 2.  And because its winter (although what we call winter here is not the deep freeze that most the country is currently in), we are eating lots of soups and stews that I make in family size batches, and nothing helps elevate a bowl of leftover soup like a couple of fresh biscuits. 

They come together very quickly ... I normally have all the ingredients (and if I don't buttermilk, plain yogurt thinned with just a bit of milk works), and just cook in the toaster oven.  

The butter get squished into the flour like for a piecrust, add your liquid.  

Then pat, fold, pat, the cut into squares. No rolling pin or cookie cutters needed.

Pop them into the toaster oven (which I don't bother to preheat)

And fresh, warm muffins....

Biscuits for Two

1 cup flour (can be ¼ whole wheat if desired)
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
4 tablespoons cold butter
3/8 cup (scant ½ cup) buttermilk

Oven: 425F  (can use a toaster oven)

Mix dry ingredients in medium bowl.   Cut butter into thin slices and drop individually into flour … toss as you are going so that all the butter slices are coated in flour.  With fingers, squish butter slices in the flour, until no large pieces of butter remain, but mixture still has some pea-sized lumps.   Add buttermilk, first mix together with a fork, then gently with fingers.  Knead a couple of times in the bowl to bring it all together into a ball (add a bit more milk if needed, but the dough should not be sticky.   Place ball on a floured surface.  Flatten a bit and fold over one way, then the other.   Pat the dough into a ½” thick square, and cut into quarters.   Place quarters on a baking sheet (does not need to be greased, parchment paper is optional).  Using your finger, wipe some buttermilk from the measuring cup and moisten the biscuit tops.   Bake for about 12 minutes.   Serve hot. 

Pressure Cooker: Black Bean and Chorizo Soup

It seems like fall is here all of the sudden.  Nights are cool, complaints coming from east coast relatives about it being cold and it's almost Halloween! The latest meal I have been making regularly is a Black Bean and Chorizo soup.  I might even be making it more often than Curried Lentils.  I make in it in a Breville Pressure cooker, which is similar to an Instapot.  From recipes I see on the web, I am guessing the Breville cooks at a slightly higher pressure, as most things will cook faster than called for in a Instapot.  In my opinion, this is the biggest challenges to using a pressure cooker is figuring out the cook time.  Soaked beans will cook much faster (5-6 minutes for soaked black beans vs 22 minutes for unsoaked), fresh beans cook faster than old beans, and different pressure for different cookers.  But you can always just cook some more if you need (and use the quick release, as the natural release is what takes the most time in this recipe). Also ... this is just a version of my Vegetable Bean and Sausage Stew, which is cooked on the stove... On the stove, I would recommend soaking the beans first, and it probably would cook in about the same total time (my guess is the soaked beans would need to cook for an hour or a bit more on the stove at a gentle simmer).  

I like a lot of greens in my soups... this is just one bunch from the Marcella's Farm stall at the Coronado Farmers Market.  You could use a lot less if you want.

When I made this batch, I found I only had a 1/2 pound of black beans in the panty, so I mixed in a 1/2 pound of pinto beans.  The soup is normally darker brown. 

Black Bean and Chorizo Soup

Makes 5-6 servings

1-2 tablespoons olive oil
6 ounces Mexican chorizo sausage
1 large onion, chopped
1 or 2 carrots, sliced
1 or 2 celery stalks, sliced (if you have them around)
2 cloves of garlic
1 jalapeno chili, or some chili flakes
1 pound black beans, rinsed   (pinto beans also work)
6 cups water
Salt (about ½ - 1 teaspoon) and  freshly ground pepper
 
1 bunch of greens (kale, mustard, chard), stalks removed, chopped (or baby spinach)

Garnish:  Sour cream or Greek yogurt, cilantro, avocado, chili slices, fresh corn, grated or crumbled cheese

 In the pressure cooker, heat the oil (using Sear setting).  Slice the chorizo if it is in a casing, or make little balls if not, and cook in the hot oil until brown.  Add onion, carrots, celery, garlic, chili.  When onions are translucent (5 minutes or so), add beans, water, salt and pepper.   Pressure cook using the “bean” function (high pressure) for 22 minutes (note – may be longer with an Instapot).  Let pressure reduce naturally.  When done, taste the beans and make sure they are cooked (if not, cook under pressure for a few more minutes, and OK to manually release the pressure).  Also taste for salt and add more if needed. Turn cooker to slow cook, high setting.  Add chopped greens.  Kale or mustard greens need to cook about 5 minutes; baby spinach is done as soon as you have stirred it in.   

 Serve with a garnish or two. Freezes well.

Pumpkin Muffins Rev. 2

I'm not one to really follow recipes, not even my own. Sometimes I just change things up for the variety. But I also evolve my recipes over time, some times to adjust for available ingredients, sometimes to make it more to my taste.  The pumpkin muffin recipe I published way back is one of those that evolved.  Butter instead of oil (for flavor), a whole can of pumpkin instead of 3/4 of a can (no dog around that loves the extra pumpkin), interchangeably use milk, yogurt, or buttermilk depending on what's on hand, and a little less to compensate for more pumpkin.  And I added some ginger.  And sometimes use more spice (like this time of year, when its pumpkin spice season) and sometimes less.  And sprinkle with sugar.   So I feel the Pumpkin Muffin recipe I published 10 years ago is not really the same as what I make today..  So here is Pumpkin Muffins Rev 2. 

These muffins come together very quickly, of the muffins I make most Sunday's, it is the easiest.

Like most muffins, the recipes are pretty tolerant... so adjust as you would like... fewer (or no) raisins, or put nuts into the batter.  Use slivered almonds instead of pumpkin seeds.  I have included a range on the spices.

And cans of pumpkin should start showing up at Trader Joes soon, its typically much better priced than regular grocery stores, but only available around Thanksgiving.

Pumpkin Muffins    Rev 2

2 cups flour (unbleached all-purpose, whole wheat, or a mix - I use 1 cup of each)

2 heaping tablespoons oat bran or oatmeal

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

½ - 1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ - ½ teaspoon ginger

¼ (scant) teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

2 eggs

½ cup brown sugar

¼ cup butter, melted

½ cup milk or yogurt

1 15 ounce can pumpkin 

½ cup raisins

¼ cup (+) pumpkin seeds or sliced almonds for topping

Raw sugar (turbano) for topping

Oven:  400F or 380F Convection Bake.

Put dry ingredients in a small bowl, and mix with whisk.

Combine eggs and brown sugar with a whisk, mix in butter, add the milk, pumpkin and raisins.  Mix well.  Fold in dry ingredients.  Place in greased muffin pan.  Sprinkle pumpkin seeds or almonds on top, making sure none stick out too much, then sprinkle with a bit of sugar.

Bake for 20 minutes or until browned and spring back when touched. Depending on your oven, you might need to rotate the pan halfway through baking.  Remove from pan, and cool on a rack.  Or eat immediately.   Store any extras in the refrigerator.  

Lemony Pasta with Chickpeas

Pasta is on the rotation for dinner at our house about once a week.  Most the time its some variation of Pasta Whatever (looking back at this post, it's one that I should update!), tonight it's going to be Mac and Cheese, sometimes it's premade Tortoni's from Trader Joes. Another thing that has been on the weekly rotation is a batch of beans cooked in the pressure cooker.  Often its Beans and Greens with Sausage (pretty much follow this recipe, using unsoaked beans and cook for 20 - 22 minutes using the bean setting on the cooker), sometimes I just cook plain beans like black beans or chickpeas that go into other things, like tacos or queso's, salads, humous, etc.  Looking for a way to use up some freshly cooked chickpeas, I discovered a new recipe that is getting made at least once a month.   I found it on a google search (chickpea pasta) on a fun blog called It is 2020 and We Are Food Blogging, Baby, traced in back to a recipe on the New York times cooking app, and pretty much follow the recipe as far as ingredients, but change up a couple of things to make it easier.  

  

Here's what my workspace looks like.  I'm following the recipe on my iPad.  When making something for the first time, I usually get everything out before I start.  Since this is something that comes together quickly, its something I will continue to do (if there are gaps in the cooking, I generally will get things out as I need them).

Ok, maybe I staged this photo a little...

A couple of things make this pasta different that my normal.  One is adding chickpeas (which is an Italian tradition), but you also mash some of the chickpeas to thicken the sauce.  You are also using parsley as a green, a whole bunch is used.  Although I haven't tried it, I think this would be good with any green like spinach if you didn't have parsley on hand. The other things that give this pasta flavors that are different than my typical flavor palette is adding rosemary (which comes from one of the big bushes in my yard) and butter. Adding butter to make things better should not be a surprise, why have I never done this?

One change to the NYT's recipe is to use a potato masher to mash the beans in the skillet ... no need for another bowl!  The other is to transfer the pasta directly from the pasta pot to the skillet using a large slotted spoon.  This keeps from getting a colander dirty, plus I don't accidently forget to save some of the pasta water for the sauce at the end.  

Lemony Pasta With Chickpeas and Parsley

8 ounces penne other short, sturdy pasta
2 cups cooked chickpeas, home-cooked or canned
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
½ onion, diced
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
 Pinch of red pepper flakes, plus more as needed
1 ½ cups chickpea cooking liquid (if canned, just use water)
3 cups fresh parsley leaves (from 1 large bunch)
⅔ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for serving
1 tablespoon butter
 Finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon
 Salt and Ground black pepper to taste

Put a large pot of water on to boil for the pasta, then immediately start the sauce. 

For the sauce, heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic until just starting to brown, about 2 minutes. Stir in onions, rosemary, red pepper flakes and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft, about 5 minutes.

When the water boils add the pasta. 

Just after starting the pasta to cook, add the chickpeas to the onions, and use a potato masher to lightly mash them; they should be about half-crushed.  Then add the cooking liquid or water. Bring to a simmer and cook gently until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes.  Turn the heat down or off if the pasta is not done yet.

When the pasta is slightly underdone, transfer the pasta to the sauce using a slotted spoon (alternately, save a cup of the pasta water and drain the pasta with a colander).  Add parsley, and cook (turn the heat back up to medium if you turned it down) until the pasta has finished cooking and is coated in the sauce, 1 to 2 minutes, adding pasta water to get a nice sauce (typically I will add a 1/2 cup or so).  Quickly toss in cheese, butter, lemon zest and black pepper.  Taste and add more salt if needed. Divide into bowls, and sprinkle with additional cheese to garnish.

Banana Muffins

Here we are, week (too many to count) of the pandemic, and I think we are all still doing a lot of cooking. We are doing most of our grocery shopping online. It's not perfect, but there is a convenience factor that might keep me from going to grocery stores for mundane stuff even when we don't have to mask up, sterilize our carts, disinfect our hands, and get mad at people who can't seem to properly where a mask. 

But one of the down sides of online shopping, just once a week is that you sometimes end up with overripe bananas.. especially if you are also buying groceries for someone that only wants green bananas (but that's another story).   Putting bananas in the fridge before they are overripe will slow down the process, the skins get ugly but inside they are still good.   Once they are overripe, you can make smoothies or chocolate milk (and you can peel and freeze chunks to keep even longer and get a more frozen result), or banana bread, but most of the ripe bananas at our house end up in banana muffins on Sunday mornings. I make muffins before coffee, so I'm pretty much making them in my sleep.  Fortunately muffins aren't too fussy, and while I do measure, I'm pretty cavalier about adding an extra banana if they are small, or a bit more liquid if I only have a two bananas, or a bit more flour if the batter seems thin.  I used to make the muffins in my Cuisinart, this eliminates the need to mash the bananas, but then you have to clean the Cuisinart.  I have started using my potato ricer, as this does an excellent job of mashing and goes into the dishwasher.  A bit messier is to just squish the bananas in you hand (a half or third at a time), but no dishes to wash! If the bananas are good and ripe, you can also just use a hand mixer instead of a whisk on the wet ingredients... slices of bananas will get mashed by the mixer.

One other detail: Many muffin recipes call for vegetable oil (as I'm sure this one did from where I sourced it from). This works fine, but I like the taste of butter in my muffins. So the order you put the wet ingredients together is important. I usually melt the butter first (even before I get the remaining ingredients out) so it has a chance to cool down. Then it should go in after whisking the eggs and sugar (which you do to help give some volume) but before adding the bananas and milk. The butter will disperse in the egg and sugar mixture, and not clump up when adding the the cold ingredients.

Oat bran has been a bit more difficult to find in the store, I think because its out of fashion more than a pandemic issue.  You can just use more flour, or substitute some oatmeal.  The texture changes but they are still good.  You can also do these with all whole wheat, all AP (white) flour, or what ever mixture you like (or have on hand).  They will get more fluffy with all white flour.  White whole wheat flour also works well. 

Notice... no paper liners. Not needed and who wants to peel them off?

Banana Bran Muffins

10 to 12 muffins

3/4 cup flour

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour 

½ cup oat bran

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (optional)

2 eggs

½ cup un-packed brown sugar

¼ cup melted butter or vegetable oil

3 large ripe bananas, mashed

¼ cup yogurt, milk, or buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

½ cup chopped walnuts or almonds, plus more for topping

Raw (coarse) sugar

OVEN: Preheat to 400F or 380F convection bake. Grease 12 muffin cups.

Whisk together flours, bran, baking powder, soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a small bowl. 

Whisk eggs and sugar in a large bowl, then whisk in melted butter (or oil) and extract.  Add mashed bananas, yogurt, extract and mix well.  Bananas can be mashed in a separate bowl with a potato masher, with a potato ricer, or just squish them through your fingers into the bowl. 

Scoop batter into muffin cups.  If desired, place a nut halve on each muffin, and sprinkle with raw sugar. Fill any empty cups with 1/2" of water.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes (18 minutes convection), or until brown and springy to the touch in the center.  Turn out onto a rack to cool.